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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
October 2025
Latest News
Empowering the next generation: ANS’s newest book focuses on careers in nuclear energy
A new career guide for the nuclear energy industry is now available: The Nuclear Empowered Workforce by Earnestine Johnson. Drawing on more than 30 years of experience across 16 nuclear facilities, Johnson offers a practical, insightful look into some of the many career paths available in commercial nuclear power. To mark the release, Johnson sat down with Nuclear News for a wide-ranging conversation about her career, her motivation for writing the book, and her advice for the next generation of nuclear professionals.
When Johnson began her career at engineering services company Stone & Webster, she entered a field still reeling from the effects of the Three Mile Island incident in 1979, nearly 15 years earlier. Her hiring cohort was the first group of new engineering graduates the company had brought on since TMI, a reflection of the industry-wide pause in nuclear construction. Her first long-term assignment—at the Millstone site in Waterford, Conn., helping resolve design issues stemming from TMI—marked the beginning of a long and varied career that spanned positions across the country.
Hong Ran, Jilai Hou, Binbin Song, Yuncong Huang, Dangshen Zhang, Qinwei Yang, Le Tang, Xiaoqiang Wu, Zen Cao, Lijun Cai
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 80 | Number 1 | January 2024 | Pages 126-136
Note | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2023.2182149
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The vacuum vessel (VV) is one of the main components of the HL-2M tokamak device. It is a thin-shell, all-welded torus made of Inconel 625 material. Maintaining the welding quality and controlling welding distortion are the main manufacturing difficulties. Welding, forming, and assembly are the research focus. This technical note describes the fundamental manufacturing research and development (R&D) and the actual manufacturing procedure of the HL-2M VV. Three stages of R&D work are carried out. The weldability of Inconel 625 plate is studied. Partial and full-scale mock-ups are made. By optimizing the manufacturing process, the HL-2M VV was completed in 2019, and the measurement data meet the design requirements. HL-2M has good vacuum performance, the total leak rate reaches 6.0 × 10−8 Pa·m3/s at room temperature, and the ultimate vacuum pressure reaches 2.4 × 10−6 Pa after baking up to 100°C.
